NCAA to probe Abuja–Calabar flight after passenger bled in hot cabin
- A passenger said he bled after about 50 minutes inside a hot cabin with no air conditioning before take-off.
- The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority says it has sent the case to its operations and training directorate.
- The airline has not been named publicly and the NCAA has not reached any finding.
The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) is to investigate an Abuja–Calabar flight after a passenger said he started bleeding while waiting about 50 minutes inside a cabin with no working air conditioning.
The passenger, Bashir Usman, posted his account on X on Tuesday. The NCAA's spokesperson, Michael Achimugu, replied in a series of posts the same day. Neither named the airline.
According to Usman, passengers boarded at 12:07pm on Monday, 26 October. The doors were shut, but he said the engines stayed off and the air conditioning did not work for about 50 minutes.
He said the heat became unbearable and he eventually started bleeding. Usman added that heat has triggered the condition since he was a child.
Crew wanted him off the plane
Usman said cabin crew told him he would have to leave the aircraft because of the bleeding, apparently to avoid a medical emergency in the air. He said he insisted he was fine.
Other passengers, he said, complained about the heat and lack of ventilation, took turns fanning him, and one woman gave him her personal mini hand fan. He was allowed to stay on board.
The flight landed in Calabar at 2:04pm, he said, for a route scheduled to take about 45 minutes. He called the experience distressing and thanked the passengers who helped him.
Achimugu said he called Usman to sympathise and was glad he was okay. He said that once Usman gave the airline's name, he escalated the matter to the NCAA's Directorate of Operations, Licensing and Training Standards (DOLTS).
He said the authority wants to know why the doors were shut with no air conditioning or ventilation in a season of extreme heat, based on Usman's account. It will also look at his claim that the crew offered no apology or explanation for the delay.
Achimugu stressed that the circumstances still have to be established.
Why it matters to travellers
Nigerians flying domestic routes often face delays on the tarmac, and a cabin without cooling in hot weather is a health risk, especially for passengers with conditions triggered by heat.
The NCAA spokesperson also defended the crew. He said they could not have known the bleeding was caused by heat, and may have feared the passenger needed urgent medical care. He said crew are expected to be vigilant, including amid recent Ebola concerns.
He warned passengers not to stop cabin crew from doing their safety work, adding that a captain can refuse to fly until a passenger is checked.
No finding has been made against the airline or its crew.
What happens next
DOLTS is expected to examine the ventilation, the delay before take-off and how the crew handled the passenger. The outcome of that review has not been announced.
